Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Criminal Minds came back
after the long summer hiatus with a very good episode, but unlike previous
seasons, it wasn’t the conculsion of the usual season ending cliffhanger. Also,
Criminal Minds came back minus one character, but introduced a new one. How
good was the Season Eight opener "The Silencer" compared to previous
seasons?

The episode was all about
dealing with the new BAU agent Alex Blake and working the case of 'The
Silencer", an unsub who sewed his victims mouths shut!

The episode started with
a man being transfered from a prison to an ambulance. The prisoner escaped
after the ambulance was involved in an accident but he before he escaped, he killed
the guard who tried to trick him into surrendering and sewed the dead guard’s
mouth shut.

The ambulance crash was a
well done stunt. Filming in such a small space (inside the ambulance) must have
been difficult for all involved but it was all well done!

Back at the BAU, Morgan
and Garcia are back in DC from a stay in London; Morgan was there as a
consultant for the Olympics, while Garcia was there to visit former BAU agent
Emily Prentiss, who now works for Interpol. Loved that writer and showrunner
Erica Messer gave us an update on how Emily was doing in the Land of Her
Majesty, The Queen of England!

Upon their return, Morgan
and Garcia meet with the BAU new agent SSA Alex Blake (played by former Big
Love star Jeanne Tripplehorn). To say that Garcia was not happy with someone
replacing her friend Emily was an understantement! Garcia – whose sentiments
echoed some of the sentiments from some of the fans who are not happy about
about losing Paget Brewster's character of Emily Prentiss, again, and are less
than entusiastic about getting a new character – made it clear to Blake that
she was not ready to welcome her, at least not yet! But by the end of the
episode Garcia did have a change of heart, and welcomed Blake to the team by
giving her a souvenier from England and asked her to forgive her bitchy
attitude. Hopefully Garcia's improved attitude towards Alex will find some
resonnance with the fans who have not been too receptive with this change.

As for the case, loved
it! Finally a case where the unsub doesn't take all available space and leaves
the team to make an apparence! The fact that the unsub was deaf and mute may
have been Erica's way to address some of the fans biggest complains from the
past two seasons ‘you want to learn about the unsub but not with him telling
you? Well he won't cause he is deaf and mute!' Most of what we got about the
unsub, his motive, who he was, etc., came from the team profile! We got the
team working together, doing lots of profiling! Yes, we do watch for the team
doing what they are suppose to be the best at: profiling. Another frustrating
thing about the last two seasons was the lack of focus on Reid and Hotch work,
and this episode didn't address this problem but hey, we still have 23 episodes
to go!

That said, "The
Silencer" was a very good episode. The unsub was interesting, as was his
motive for killing.We felt sorry for
what happened to him as a kid. The way the unsub sewed his victims mouths was
particularly gruesome, and the reason why he did so was inventive: he did it to
shut up people who lied to him!Have to
say that the actor who played the unsub, was excellent! Little fact, Troy
Michael Kotsuris deaf in real life.

Loved how the team worked
together to get the profile, worked the case and caught the killer. I had the
feeling that the team was working well together, not feeling the loss of
Prentiss as much as I thought they would. This feeling must have come from the
fact that when we, the audience, catch up with the BAU they, with th exception
of Morgan and Garcia, had been working with Blake for a few months. It shows in
how Morgan questions why Blake left out some information when the team was
giving the profile but no one else questioned her reaction. Derek was right in
questioning Blake. Alex may have Hotch’s trust, as they had been working
together for a few months and he knows how she operates, but this was Morgan’s
first case with Alex.Blake found out
that Morgan does not hesitate to question his fellow agents no matter their
rank! I like that about Morgan even if he sometimes clashes with Hotch!

Speaking of clashes, I
love the tension between Blake and Erin Strauss. Blake doesn't like or trust
Strauss, and no one can blame her after Strauss refused to back Alex and let
her take the fall on a previous case several years in the past. Strauss’s
actions cost Blake advancement in the Bureau and probably cost her an earlier
placement in the BAU. Will those two ever come to like and even trust each
other? Maybe futures episodes will tell us!

So, the question is, does
Blake make a good replacement for Prentiss? Too soon to tell. As a Prentiss
fan, I am still missing Emily but I am not closed off to Alex. What I saw of
her in "The Silencer" I liked very much and I found that her being
very different from Emily makes her less of a replacement and more like an
addition to the team and this I find very refreshing.

Overall, as a Criminal
Minds episode, "The Silencer" was an excellent episode, it had many
of the things I like about a CM episode: lots of profiling, no heavy focus on
the unsub, lots of the team working the case, some VERY creepy moments (sewing
people's mouth is VERY creepy!) personal/funny moments (Garcia going all
British, LOVE her dress at the beginning!). But have to say, as a season opener,
this episode lacked the tension of the season 7 ender."Hit/Run" had lots of action, a team
member in peril, the sense of urgency...all the excitment that a season opener
episode should have. Seasons enders
and openers have to set themselves apart, they have to make people feel like
something big will happen. "Hit/Run" had it, unfortunately "The
Silenecer didn't until the very last seconds when the season long unsub was
introduced. THAT got me excited! Why? Because he is going after the team! Plus
I was left with many questions; why is he/she going after the team? Who is the
unsub? What will he/she do to them? How will he/she do it? When will he/she
strike? This is all very thrilling!

For this episode, we will
give a 8/10: solid writing, the episode did a good job introducing the
character of Alex Blake and the season long unsub but the episode lacked the
spectacular "something" that the fans expect from a season premiere
of Criminal Minds.

“God Complex” – When a legless body is found in the New Mexico desert and a second unwilling amputee shows up at the hospital, the BAU team searches for this amateur surgeon before he preys upon his next reluctant victim. Also, Reid’s phone calls to a mystery woman have the team intrigued, on CRIMINAL MINDS, Wednesday, Oct. 24 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Ray Wise (“24,” “Twin Peaks”) guest stars as doctor John Nelson.

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WHO WE ARE

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Criminal Minds Round Table. When we were positing names for this blog, and Sir Bedivere suggested Criminal Minds Round Table, we knew immediately that was the perfect name for our blog.

It fit in so many ways.

Many fans, and Ed Bernero (Criminal Minds' former Showrunner and Executive Producer) himself, compare the show and its characters to The Arthurian Legend and the Knights of the Round Table. Mr. Bernero even went so far as to say that he knew that the stories had to be “Arthurian” to appeal to the most people. The team meets to brief cases at a round table, and there are many parallels between our BAU team and the Knights and other Arthurian characters.

In addition, a Round Table discussion is what we want to have here about any and all topics Criminal Minds-related. In a Round Table discussion, each participant has equal status and equal time to present views. And finally, since this is going to be a group effort amongst a group of Criminal Minds fans, we are going to take turns around the table, with each of us posting about the show, our favorite characters and our favorite actors on the show.